Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1887-11-27
A SHIPS GHOST.
Tx STORY TOLD BY rHR spoor
HIMSELF.
earring Whole Ships Crew, Inc,udinc
TIE Wicked Mate. and Having a
Good Tina.

>
..c-r,om Of South street cban6Ior'.
.t,n one afternoon recently and A.
rr>,cd ghosts, sea-serpcnts, and marine
.n,,ks generally. One captain said tba,
fe had once had mate who had scon -
rso>, IN the ml2zentop one dark nigbt
t~,.hcr Of the shippers said that he boJ
known n captain who had had steworJ
vt, had once been shipmatc with y
sp'.k.
ii can tell You O better story thu
,t... remarked third shipmastcr ~
qas once on a haunted vessel myself
THIS vessel was really haunted Inv .
l.>.-l am telling Won the truth And
VAST is more, | was the ghost that bonnt
,tthtvCSSci. This announcement ,,o,,o
use ~ some expressions Of incredpl;4,.
vhca the captain who claimed 10 bo a.,
N1aas, proceeded to answer by snin-
rac l.s warn.
"lvas n tough youngstcr about tb;rt,.
,ar- 0CO. he. continued, 80 tongb
rtmy parents sent me to sea. | oi6n4
tsr,uhriy fancy life on shipboord Of
,-,., because they gave me lots of work
ST. I didn't hike work aud because
t..v didn't give me good victualS. and |
SD, trChtiui fond of good victualS. The
l-. iast had shipped on went 10 Dor
5.N The third night in that port I
,Irl for permission 10 20 ashore
81. was told that I would have
-emain on board That made
-. .aL I saw the captains small
, alongside the ganCwsv with the
- Il. l cravled down into the boat.
..t.ned the painter, and showed of
the bark. Then | rowed. as |
slit, toward the shore but it soon
.- on 70 be thick. As / couldn't see
l. Nv yards from the boat, had
'.rc 20 do hut SIT quietly in the boat
4 ., her drift. And she drifted all
--., Soon after daylight I heard the
.a,. q vessel coming toward
81. jumped up and hailed
..- She was small, outward-bound
.s-. selling slowly, with the wind on
.-- BEAM There were people on her
,s and just as they passed one of
-.- hove me a line, which ! caught.
1,s minute | was on board the vessel.
,-- unlci by several rough-looking
Bad o. foot as If ! were a curiosity.
S. 'e they were still watching me the
.s,..r came up, and. in broken Eng
Isl. TIA me that his vessel had lust left
H-iaGx FOR Buenos Ayres. lie could
'rat bach 20 lsud me, and it would
safe for me 70 leave the bark in the
He had a spare berth. and could
TX uy passage, he said. He taen or
-.i tie little boat in which / had been
..i 90 bee hauled on board.
j was placed IN the mates watch
nate was q wicked-looking fellow,
- once took a strong dislike TO
.. one morning I began to whistle
While 81 my work. The mate heard me
..3 gave me- "a sound thrashing. took
70 .--~ that that the mate was very
s.,-rst.i.ous. ike the majority of Spa
. r. sailors then. and fancied that my
sting would bring the vessel III luck.
After that he always thrashed me on
g.. lcltest proyocatlon. We had M
favorable winds and Gains nearly the
v. time. The mate and the sailors
go ,-emed TO regard NE as the cause Of
u1tsyorable winds, for often caught
% looking at me IN distruStful way
2 ta,v thought / was a Jonah.
1.-The food was very poor. and there
- little al il | slept IN little room
t.e deck-house whore some of the
r--.s were kept There was a small
.-srio0r in the deck in tins room. One
when we had the first watch on
.L.Isav. as 1 passed the galley door,
..- there was something that looked
can ~ preserved meat on a shelf
-- !, the door. / watched my chance
-. ,..zel the can and took it to my
Junk where / hid il. At midnight,
sion turned in. l found that the can
aimed picked lobster. / ate the
whole contents Of tue can, and
GIN stole out on deck and threw
g.. ..a overheard. / slept heavily after
..-...- in. and later on had an uneasy
--. as if my stomach wasn't working
-v. Ii seemed to me as If ! were
Climbing up and down precipices and
--.r.cc along narrow lodges, and now
.-i chen crawling along IN dark caves.
~.iie,.v the scene seemed to change.
= thought myself in a small boat
a,. Oh the ocean. \ vessel came
:..Iy in sight and hurried past
a- Help help / cried don't
e. me here TO perish Then !
..-. An answering cry in Spanish.
rrled with another cry for help.
... awoke and found myself IN the
.-u0 Of the bark. with my head
cut Of "a small portfolio. In 10y
.ra 7 had got out of nv bunk,
r.- the trap.door in the deck, gone
- MO the hold, climbed ait along
--0. entered the lazaretto through
.- uap-door, opened the port, and
. y head ont into the air and yelled
g.. .a. 1t took me a moment or so to
,--. III this. I then heard cries on
.r I'D concluded that I had really
..-e .1, and tina, the people on deck
'l- that the wells came from some
OBJ. who had fallen overheard or from
-'-. upwrecked person IN boat or
c.-rl- % q mft.
81 .agljercd when I thought of the
t,a,,iu, that / was sure 10 receive from
g. uate IL b. discovered that / had been
responsible for the alarm. | closed the
portland started u rctrace my steps.
.i f.t through the trap-door OF the
.arsret,o when i stumbled and fell over
"4sset. s ala So / heard the clink-
t, % bottles. tore open the basket
a.i found that s, was filed with bottles
a. WHO. ] broke OF tine neck OF one
81 Ae bottles, which ! proceeded 10
empty. Iie.t very comfortable aftg it,
saa lay down Oh some mating which
lad been placed over portion Of the
cargo. began - feel d.owsv. and the
neAt thing remember was waking up.
must have been asleep Tor number Of
nouns 1t occurred 10 me that had
been already missed, and that the crew
probably Thought that ! had f.'.sn over
board, and had mistaken my Nightmare
yells for drowning cr.. 1'''''
A., / anew Sne" that when appeared on
uech 'h,'e Toad Do. trouble so | took
9 ,,1 b.,ae o.. vine 10 brace M with.
L-e ] was drinking tins It struck me
t.-' II would bea good idea for me to
=. d 'lefe were not some eatables at
I--L io.li near me a number Of